Many years ago I had a Datejust with a 'champagne' dial and took it to Rolex in London and asked for the dial to be changed to a 'white with roman numerals'. Took about week IIRC, huge improvement, and cost £127.
But what's the score these days on the 'sports watches'? Are the dials expensive? And, if I supply a genuine dial (say off eBay) would they fit it?
Just thinking about it.
Last time I enquired it was around £450 for a Datejust dial swap.
As for getting them to fit something you've sourced, forget it! You may be able to get an independent repairer to do this but I doubt whether a Rolex accredited repairer would.
The more info you give on a query like this, the better than chance of a constructive reply. What exactly are you trying to do?
Paul
It's not for the Datejust - I've still got that and very happy.
However, when 'window shopping' on the internet - if I see a Rolex Sports Watch I like (i.e. Submariner, Daytona, Yachtmaster, etc), but fancy a different dial, just considering the cost and practicalities.
Not keen on 'customising' - and would want a genuine Rolex dial, ideally fitted by Rolex or an accredited agent, to protect value.
Sorry for the dumb question, Will Rolex do dial swaps?
I've been looking at day-dates and found one that might be a goer, bar the horrible dial combo, and i had been wondering if sending the watch to Rolex for a simple baton dial was possible.
I don't think they'll do dial swaps on the sports models other than changing like for like at a service.
They will do dial swaps on most SS sports. For example you can go from a Black daytona to a white one, but they won't change between dials of different metals. So for example with a Stainless Steel Daytona you can go black or white etc but can't get a meteorite for example. Same with any other SS Rolex that has different dial colours.Originally Posted by Dave+63
However note that a dial change is extremely expensive as Rolex wants to curb the parts for these and not only will they charge you like £450-£500 for a different dial, you must do a service also, so add another £500 on top and furthermore if you wanna keep the old one, thats another £150 or so.
I had a dial changed by RSC on my 116000 not so long ago. IIRC it was about £500 including a service which they will insist on. No problem and no extra charge for returning the original dial to me.
N
Insisting on servicing the watch just because they're swapping the dial is absolute madness, they really are taking the piss. There's absolutely no reason or logic behind this other than ripping off owners.
Same with glasses. If a glass has shattered there's always the risk of fragments getting in the movement, but if it's simply become chipped there's no reason to take the movement apart!
God only knows how they justify this, there's no technical reasoning behind it. I`m not a fan of partial repairs where the movement's involved and I can see the sense in fully stripping the watch if a movement fault develops, but servicing a watch because the dial's getting swapped?........no way!
Rolex would do well to remind themselves who actually owns the watches; once they've been sold Rolex don`t own them but they do seem to want to keep control!
It's a Swiss thing, it's something in their psyche, I`m convinced of it.
Paul
The alternative is to charge a lot more Paul. If they restrict carrying out work while a service is being undertaken it makes a lot more sense.
Also, the argument for completing a service when a crystal is changed is that if you have knocked the watch hard enough to chip/shatter etc. the crystal then it is possible that you have dislodged something within the movement - could you imagine if they changed the glass and then a few weeks later the owner starts complaining that their watch was losing time or had an issue? Unlike some other areas, I completely understand their stance in this one ymmv
It's just a matter of time...
I'm pretty sure that Rolex will swap any dial in DD for any other dial that was available in that particular model. They might (probably will) require you to swap hands and do a full movement service. Also, at least in the USA, you would lose the original dial.
Last I heard, Rolex (at least in the USA) wouldn't swap colors on the Explorer 2s.
Rolex service is a super high output factory, which I'm sure you know. They aren't designed for anything besides full movement services. If they have to spend the time pulling a watch apart, they're going to try their best to get paid for a full service.
I would always prefer going independent for basically anything on a Rolex.
In the UK they will. Rolex in the US operates with their own set of rules.
I take the point regarding potential damage to the watch, but in the majority of cases there's nothing significantly wrong. A visual check, plus a test on the timegrapher, will confirm that all's well. I've had a few watches in that have been whacked; if anything's been disturbed it'll be the escapement or balance that's affected and it'll be obvious. Resetting the beat error and regulating is usually all that's needed and that doesn't justify a full stripdown on an otherwise healthy watch. It's always possible that a hard whack will snap a pivot, but that'll be obvious because the watch won't run!
It doesn't take much to chip the edge of a sapphire crystal, I did it on a ladies TAG whilst removing the bezel with a crystal lifter. Just caught the edge but that was enough........owner got a new TAG crystal and I learned a lesson!
Paul
I think it's on a case by case basis now as I think Rolex are getting tighter with dial swaps, and I doubt they would do them on the new C Daytonas or the D Blue for example. More chance on DJ and PM models.
No they do it as a standard service. Daytona C is possible. But not the D Blue as they are different SKU. ie a deep blue is not the same price as the deep sea. Similarly you cannot put a ceramic daytona 116500 dial into a 116520. It has to be the same ref. But to change from a white 116500 to a black is possible, just with premium and mandatory service, ie over £1K.
Ah well if a mandatory service then yes they would love to, but they won't do just a dial swap, and I think this has been the trend of late for most models.
Yep. They will not do a dial swap WITHOUT a service. It has to be serviced.
I`ve sourced a couple of genuine Rolex dials from ebay, but that was a few years back. Much harder to find thesedays.
Paul
No, Halfords don't sell them. They are on eBay though.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290997170622
My Rolex dealer confirmed that they will only approve dial changes to those that are/were originally available as standard on a specific model.
Of course, an independent can do what you like.
Bumping this old thread to ask if any member knows of an independent that would change the dial on a Day Date?
I enquired with Rolex and as already stated they would need to service the watch.Below is a beacon of the cost.
"We would only be able to change the dial within a service, the costs would be £600 for the service and approximately £550 for the dial, discs and hands"
As the watch that I am considering is only three years old, it still falls under the 5 year warranty, so in my mind does not require a service.
Of course this in itself generates its own issues, namely I assume that Rolex would not then either honour the warranty or ever service the watch that had been fitted with another dial/date/day disc and hands by another party.
Then of course I would need to source the genuine parts!!
Having now written and read it, there doesn't appear to be many options or are there??
Over to the forum. :-)
Colleagues have just this minute passed me such an enquiry -- from you?
There are plenty of independents who have spare dials. Yes, I have a thousand or two, many of them NOS stock from main agents who'd lost the agency or still have it but needed to raise some capital. Most of us probably keep them for our own stock needs / repairs, except where we have many the same. For some reason I was able to buy boxes of identical silver / diamond dot 18x38 and 16233 dials, so they're ones I will release. Most indies certainly wouldn't want to fit a dial to a watch that is still under warranty. If you could find an indie willing to supply and fit, I would expect you'd need about £200-£300.
Last edited by Haywood_Milton; 19th November 2019 at 12:02.
Haywood, indeed it was me, he says, slightly red faced!
And very helpful and polite they were :-) they even called me back to update the information that they had provided me with.
It was after seeing one of your old adverts during a search on Google, I then found this thread.
No need for a red face! Thanks for thinking of us and I just hope my comments were of some use. H, out.
Noo expert- but i would doubt Rolex would do a dial swap on a sports model given how cagey some are
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